Chapter 25 Madness

It has been 4 days since the Shepherds left Plegia. The Shepherds has been stuck in an abandoned fort in the desert since then. With the many injuries they had, it would be suicide to move. They lost 36 soldiers in that skirmish, Stahl would be lucky if he ever walked again, Gangrel and Vaike have many broken ribs, Miriel can't lift her left arm, Inigo and Nowi is in critical condition and they lost many of their healers. If things weren't hard enough, their tactician was currently lost to the world.

After being controlled by his father and taking the Fire Emblem away from his best friend, Matthew could not trust himself to be around the others. To make matters worse, his entire family has been captured by that dastard Validar; it almost took every moving Shepherd and soldier to hold him down and not go back to Plegia. If that wasn't bad enough, Lucina tried to kill him in order to protect her father. Matthew thought he would have to duel his own niece to the death if Chrom hadn't stepped in. How could one's life turn to hell in just one day?

Since that day, the tactician hadn't left his room. Everyone was worried for his wellbeing since the food they left buy his door was never touched. He wouldn't even answer the door if anyone knocked. Chrom and Lissa tried to speak to the tactician through the locked door, but wasn't even given the time of day.

Currently, Chrom was following Frederick to the room they dubbed as the war council room. After not hearing even a word from him for 3 days, the last hope Chrom was holding onto was the "discovery" Frederick had pulled him aside to discuss. Once they were behind closed doors and they made sure no one was in sight, "Milord, our scouts have found where Validar is currently hiding." The news made the Exalt feel a wave of relief within.

"I see," The Exalt calmly replied and massaged his chin. "…Have you told Matthew about this?" Much to the blue head's comfort, the Great Knight shook his head.

"I thought it wise not to inform him about our discovery. It would be troublesome if he went and acted on his own."

"Wise decision, Frederick." Chrom said and began formulating a plan in his head. "We'll tell Matthew in a later. In the meantime, we should gather the list of everyone who can still fight. I'm sure we are going to have one hell of a welcome party. We need to divide a small team to search for Emmeryn and a team to fight with me on the front lines. Matthew will be able to brew up a plan once we arrive at the destination."

"Understood, milord." Frederick bowed and swiftly left the room, leaving Chrom to his thoughts. Once the Great Knight was gone, the Exalt sighed heavily and gritted his teeth. The Exalt flashed back to almost three years ago when he could not save his sister. This time was different. Failure was not an option.

"Emm, we will save you this time."

Below the Grounds of the Great Alter

Emmeryn slowly peeled her eyes open as the sound of her cell door slid open. Even though her body protested in pain, she was able to push herself from the hard ground she currently laid on and to the figure that approached her. When the blur in her eyes cleared up, she was able to see the silver hair of the woman that she always saw near Validar. She seemed to be holding something in her hand that was steaming. Once the silver haired woman was close enough, she dipped something in the steaming item and moved it to the Exalt's face. On reflex, the blonde quickly to a sitting position and covered her head with her shackled hands.

"Eat," Emmeryn heard the woman say in a demanding tone, which caused her to peek at the woman hold a spoon full of what looked like stew with bits of carrots in it. Emmeryn was confused. It's not that she wasn't hungry. Especially since she hadn't eaten in days. It was the fact that this woman was trying to feed her. Was this a trap? Was something in that soup to cause her more pain?

Aversa could literally tell what the noble woman was think and said, "It's not poisoned. Now, are you going to eat, or do I have to shove it down your throat?" Emmeryn couldn't argue with that. The former Exalt slowly lowered her arms and hesitantly moved her mouth toward the steaming spoon. When the warm stew hit her tongue, her eyes immediately came to life and a warmth streamed throughout her entire body.

"It's…good." Emmeryn mumbled and gladly accepted the bowl that was handed to her. Once the silver haired woman handed over the bowl, she stood to her feet and began walking away. "T-Thank you!" Emmeryn cried out to the woman and caused her to stop.

"Don't thank me." The woman shot back. "I am only doing this because you would surely die if I didn't help you, and the last thing I want is your blood on my hands again." Emmeryn didn't know what the woman was talking about, but despite this person's appearance, she was probably not like the rest of the Grimleal the blonde had met before.

"Do you know…what they are planning to do with me?" Emmeryn asked the woman who sighed and leaned on the cell gates.

"They are planning to use you as a sacrifice to Grima. Normally any sacrifice would suffice, but sacrificing a true blood of Naga is said speed up the process tremendously. That's all I know."

"S-Sacrifice?" Emmeryn said in horror.

The woman nodded and replied, "To resurrect Grima, a great deal of sacrifices are needed, but it takes years for Grima to fully restore it's power. I don't know how Validar will do it, but it would most likely take all of his attention. Once his attention has fallen," Emmeryn could see the woman grit her teeth and her hands baled into fist. "I will kill him with my own hands." The woman looked up to Emmeryn and said, "That's why I need you alive. Right now, I'm only using you to kill Validar. If he desires you so much, then I will use you until he lets down his guard. You serve no other purpose in my eyes."

After the woman was down talking, she leaned off the metal bars and left the cell; closing the cell doors behind her. Before she could leave though, Emmeryn called out to her again. "Wait!" The woman grunted and looked back to the former Exalt.

"What do you want now? I do not wish to speak to you any longer."

"W-What about my children? Where are they right now?" The woman looked at Emmeryn with a hard glare. She had no obligation to tell her, but she had already revealed so much. There would be no harm in telling her that as well.

"…One of them, at least, is fine." The woman finally replied. "She was able to fight off Validar's influence and escaped from one of the Grimleal's strong holds with the help of my subordinates." A wave of relief was sent through the Exalt, but it didn't last long when the woman spoke again. "But for your other daughter, she now stands by Validar's side. Her willpower was not strong enough to fight off Validar's strong manipulation. If your friends are not fast enough, then you fight permanently lost your daughter."

Hearing the revelation sent fear back into the former Exalt's heart. "P-Please let me out!" Emmeryn said desperately as to the silver haired woman. "I have to save her!"

"…There is absolutely nothing you can do for her." The woman said in a calm voice. "Her mind has been completely taken over. The only way to save her is to kill the user, or end her yourself. I highly doubt you can do either one." Emmeryn feel to her feet knees when the news hit her. She felt so useless! She was currently captured by her enemies, and now her daughter was in danger and there was nothing she could do about it!

Seeing an opportunity, the silver haired woman left without a trance. Leaving the former Exalt to grieve in the dark cell room.

When Matthew finally left his room, everyone could tell that something was definitely wrong with him. His skin was that of a ghost, his eyes looked like they were in another world, and his expression was plainer than a blank piece of paper. Though he showed no signs of hostility, any could feel the killing intent leaking from him whenever they walked past him. When he spoke, it was always "yes" or "no" or he didn't answer at all. All of this unnatural behavior was like someone ripped out the tactician's soul and replaced it with the devil.

Even now as the Shepherds walked toward the alter where Validar currently resided, the tactician stayed at the front of the army and did not even glance back at his worried friends. Lissa wanted desperately to reach out to her brother-in-law, but the vibe she was getting from him was shaking her to the bone. "Chrom, go talk to him." Lissa whispered to her brother next to her.

"I've tried, Lissa," Chrom replied and shrugged his shoulders. "But he doesn't seem to want to talk to anyone at the moment…which is very unlike him."

"I know right? He's never acted this way before! What has happened to the kind heart Matthew we all know?"

Chrom massaged his chin in thought. When he actually thought about it, Emmeryn also acted strange when the Shepherds crossed over to Plegia. Was being in Plegia the problem? No, instead of Plegia being the problem, it was most likely the Grimleal Matthew had a problem with. Matthew had warned Chrom about his suspicion with his connections with the Grimleal years ago, but when Validar confirmed his true lineage, it completely tore the brunette apa-

"Milord." Chrom was torn out of thoughts by the cry of his title behind him. He looked to his left to see Frederick pointing in the distance. "A small group of Grimleal forces up ahead." Chrom looked to where the knight pointed. Sure enough, there was a small group of about 75 to 100 dark cloaked Grimleal figures roaming the desert as if they were searching for something; which was most likely the Shepherds. "They are small, but almost full of mages. We still have injured within our ranks, and I doubt our horses would be able to deal with their mages in this sand. I think the best course of action would be to go around them, milord."

Frederick was right. They didn't bring many forces with them aside from a few volunteering soldiers of about 100; plus 50 of Priam's forces, including himself. Losing 36 of their forces in the last skirmish was more of a hard hit than what anyone could actually think. On ttop of that, their tactician wasn't in the best state of mind to make stern and precise decisions at the moment. Chrom hated to leave those Grimleal dastards to roam freely, but they had no choice. Every soldier would count oce they march toward the temple.

"Alright." Chrom agreed, while turning around to his tactician. "Matthew, we are going to retreat for-"Chrom couldn't get the rest of the sentence out since Matthew ignored whatever he was about to say and ran headfirst into the enemy; duel swords in hand. "Wait!" Chrom called out, but his words were nothing but air to the tactician as he charged towards enemy lines.

"Matthew!" Lissa called out and ran after the tactician. Chrom didn't have time to think. His body immediately ran forward and stopped his sister from going any further.

"Stay back with the other!" He demanded and ran after the fool of a tactician. Much to Chrom's bad luck, the Grimleal spotted the two heading their way and immediately retaliated by drawing their swords and tomes. Since it was unavoidable now, the Shepherds, who were able to fight, jumped into action. The battle across the hot desert sand erupted within seconds.

…

Chrom breathe heavily as he pulled the sword out of his last opponent. Never in the Exalt's life had he thanked Naga over and over for his survival. There had to have been a God walking with the Shepherds since they didn't lose a single life.

Well, more like a Demon. Matthew clearly tore through half of the army by himself. The once fearless Grimleal members were more terrified to continue fighting the man that cut through anyone who dared challenge him. Some even tried to escape, but were mercilessly cut down by the duel wielding swordsmaster. Death truly had a field day sweeping up the souls that the man mercilessly killed in cold blood.

Just thinking about what Matthew did finally set the Exalt off. Once his legendary blade was secured in it's sheath, the blue head looked through Grimleal filled battlefield to find his tactician. Luckily, it wasn't hard to find him since he was isolated at the rear of the battlefield with a multitude of corpses surrounding him. He still wore that same lifeless expression even when he swung his sword around to wipe the blood off of the blade.

"Hey," Chrom called out to his friend who turned his head towards him. When Chrom was within range, he baled his hand into a fist and sent a right hook into the tactician's jaw; knocking him on his back. "What the HELL was that?!" Chrom could not contain his anger any longer and completely lashed out at his best friend. "Not only did you put yourself in danger with that little stunt, but you also put EVERYONE at risk! What the HELL is wrong with you?!" Instead of giving an answer, the tactician slowly stood to his feet before delivering a punch of his own into the Exalt's face. The punch wasn't strong enough to knock the blue head down, but the tackle the tactician implemented after the punch surely sent him and the brunette tumbling to the ground.

Chrom grunted when he hit the ground and the tactician landed on top of him. Chrom immediately brought his arms up to defend himself from the multiple punches that were thrown at him from above. Through the punches, Chrom noticed something about his friend that completely shocked him.

His eyes.

The tactician's eyes were glowing purple just like that time with Naomi back on the ship. The only difference between now and then was the purple seemed to not only overtake his pupils, but even the sclera. At that moment Chrom finally knew, this was not Matthew.

Chrom was able to catch the tactician's hands and stop the assault, but Matthew seemed stronger than the Exalt could remember. He was almost over powering the blue head even when his wrist was captured. Matthew would have broken free of the Exalt's grip if it wasn't for a force that knocked him in the back of the head. In a matter of seconds, the tactician lost consciousness and fell to the side of the Exalt.

"Are you alright, Blue?" Chrom heard the familiar tone of Gaius' voice above him.

"Y-Yea." Chrom replied and accepted the hand that was outstretch to him.

"Bubbles finally lost his mind?" The thief asked while looking down to the unconscious tactician.

"To be honest, I don't think what I just saw was Matthew. His eyes were in the same shade as Naomi back on the ship…but his eyes were like he was completely under the control of someone else." Chrom's mind went back to the day Matthew was controlled by Validar. With the same situation as then, Chrom could definitely link the tactician's behavior to back then. This is definitely that dastard's work.

"Guys!" The duo turned around to see the Lissa running up to them. "We found an old man that says there-" Lissa gasped and covered her mouth when she saw her unconscious friend on the ground. "What happened?! Don't tell me he's-"

"He just unconscious, Lissa." Gaius reassured his wife. "I just hit him in the back of the head."

The blonde's worry quickly transformed into anger at her husband's words. "Why the hell would you do that?!" Lissa yelled and took hold of the thief's garb; pulling his face down to her height. "I don't care how reckless he was back there! He's already had a rough enough time with Emm and his daughters gone! There was absolutely NO reason for you to go that far!"

"W-Wait, Lissa, there's a good explanation for thi-"

"I don't wanna hear your excuses!" The princess interrupted her husband, pushing him away and taking her healing staff over to her downed friend. After thoroughly examining his body, she sighed and held her staff over his body. "Gods, his body is covered with wounds. I don't know how he was even able to walk with some many cuts and bruises."

That was actually no surprise to the Exalt. It would have been impossible for anyone to run into enemy lines and come out unscratched. Especially with light armor like the one the tactician currently wore. After Lissa was done healing, she motioned for Chrom and Gaius to help carry him. On the way back to where the rest of the Shepherds were was mostly Lissa giving Chrom and Gaius an earful without them being able to explain their side of the story.

Once they were back with the rest of the group, Chrom and Gaius took the unconscious man to the medical wagon. After completing that task, the Exalt immediately went in search of Tharja. If anyone knew what was going on with the tactician, then surely she would know. Luckily for him, she wasn't too hard to find. She was almost always at the back of the army along with either Nowi, her husband, Libra, or Emmeryn, but this time, she was completely alone; sitting on the back of the last wagon with an open tome in her hands.

"What do you want?" Tharja asked the Exalt with annoyance clear in her voice before he could even utter a word to her. Chrom already knew the dark mage was in more of a bad mood than she regularly was. He couldn't quite put a finger on why though. He was under the impression that she had finally come out of her gloomy days a few months ago, but anyone could tell that her gloomy atmosphere had returned from when she first joined the Shepherds.

Chrom tried his best to ignore her tone and cleared his throat. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions about Matthew's previous behavior." As always, whenever Matthew was a part of the conversation, Tharja stopped whatever she was doing and looked gave the person her full attention.

"What about his previous behavior?" Tharja asked in a nonchalant tone.

"We both know that the person we saw on the battlefield was not the Matthew we all know. The Matthew we all know would not have charged into battle the way he did, and he sure as hell wouldn't have put the rest of the army in danger out of rage. Does his current behavior have something to do with Validar?"

Tharja sighed and closed her book before crossing her legs and arms. From the way she got comfortable, Chrom could tell that she knew something, and whatever it was, it was long. "It's true that what's going on with Matthew is connected with his father, Validar, but it's also connected to the blood that runs in his veins."

Chrom raised an eyebrow at what the dark mage just revealed. "His blood?"

Tharja nodded and continued. "If you haven't known already, Matthew is a descendant with the Fell Dragon's blood running through him. With this blood, the ones who brought him to this world can take full control over him in order to force them to follow the path to resurrect the Fell Dragon. They can even control the child's children and their children before that, but no one lives that long, so it's passed down through each child. The reason for his current behavior is because of the Fell Dragon trying to force him back on the path to reawakening him."

"T-That's insane!" Chrom blurted out of anger.

"…It's a twisted way to pass down your genes, but it's been happening for years and no one has stopped it… Anyways, the side effects of having Grima trying to force you back on his path is nightmares, and in extreme cases, anger. If the host won't submit to him through the nightmares, then he will awake past and present anger and turn you against all that is not a part of his plan. Currently, that is what's happening to Matthew right now. Luckily for him, his willpower is stronger than Grima's influence, so he is able to fight it off, but, as you could already see, there is a limit to how long someone can fight off Grima's influence."

"I-I see." Chrom mumbled and massaged his chin. He was relieved to hear that his best friend had not lost his wits and he was fighting to stay sane, but for how much longer? Could he finally break tomorrow? Or even today? From the looks of what the Exalt just saw on the battlefield, it didn't look like they had a lot of time before Validar took complete control of him…

"If that's all you wanted, then leave me. I do not wish to talk any longer." Tharja said in a dry voice and waited for the Exalt to leave, but he was still lost in thought. What could he do to save his friend? Was there nothing the Shepherds could do to at least ease the burden on the tactician's shoulders? Damn that Validar and him accursed blood!...

Wait.

Suddenly, an idea popped into the Exalt's head as he looked back to the dark mage. "Hey, if we kill Validar, will Matthew be free of this curse?"

Tharja's blinked twice before replying to the blue head, "I came to the same conclusion, but, as ashamed as I am to admit it, I do not possess the strength to do-"

"Maybe not alone, but together is a different story." A smile began to grow on the Exalt's face as the dark mage's eyes went wide. "From the look on your face, I can guess that it's possible if we work together to kill that dastard."

"…It's very possible."

"I thought so." A new wave of relief was sent through the Exalt as a new mission appeared before him. "Alright! Matthew has done so much for us in the past and present. I think it's high time we pay him back for that, don't you think?"

Tharja went back to her regular scold and turned away from the smiling Exalt. "You don't have to tell me anything about killing that dastard Validar. I would have done it even without your help." The dark mage stated, trying to keep her pride showing. Determination now taking over his body, Chrom did a short bow and speed walked away from the dark mage to find Frederick.

Meanwhile, Tharja sighed and looked down to the palm of her hand. A slight picture of Emmeryn flashed in her mind before she closed her hand and gritted her teeth. "Validar, I'll make sure you burn before my eyes."

So, I'm both very happy and very mad right now. Why you may ask? Well, there are many reasons why. For one, finals are finally over and I passed all my classes, I can finally start back up with writing this story, and BAYONETTA AND CORRIN/KAMUI CONFIRMED FOR SMASH! You have NO idea how happy that announcement me! If you could pour the salt from my friends into your food, you would die of high blood pressure haha! Sorry, but I'm not sorry wolf and snake wanters. As much as I wanted wolf and snake in smash, it just didn't happen :/, but my vote for Corrin and Bayonetta didn't go to waste!

Now, to why I'm mad. The other day, someone completely spoiled all endings of Fire Emblem Fates to me…and that really pissed me off! It kinda makes me not want to play it anymore…if things could not get any worse, they also showed me many other things that happened in the game and I ended up completely hating that person for life!... Won't say who it is, but you know who you are and the crime you have committed…

Anyways, reviews!

THE CREATOR: BRUUUUUHHH! I hope that some of this chapter answered your hopes and questions (well, excepted for the Priam part). As much as I would love to spoil the story, I will say that I can't, but look forward to future chapters. There's a decision that I'm really trying to make that will either happen in the next chapter or the chapter after that. Look forward to it!

The Forgetful Wish: I will make sure to accomplish that task even if I must use the cruelest method ever my friend. *Salutes*

Anyways, thank you all for the reviews, favs and follows and HEY! We reached 100 followers! Didn't really notice this until I woke up one day and looked at my computer lol, but thank you guys so much for sticking around!

HAVE AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS!